The thing to remember is this: Things are not people and people are not things. You’re not diminishing the relationships with those who gave you the Santas by divesting yourself of the things themselves. The relationship isn’t dependent on the ownership of the thing and the love remains long after the thing is gone. This is a good way to explain it to anyone who might ask, too. )

Good luck with your Santa collection!
~Monica

Now I am working on my partner’s “collection” of memorabilia. The items are boxed and, so far, only he has only retrieved one item. The rest is due for permanent removal in March next year… I hope.

The nice thing is, and my partner agrees, is the lack of clutter in the living room where all this stuff used to be. These “collections” we gathered just added clutter to our lives and certainly never made them better. Another weight lifted.

Later, when Star Wars came out (in 1977) I liked it, because, darn, *Star Wars!*; and again, for *years* after I got Star Wars calenders and so forth (but not the fun toys like action figures or spaceships) until again, I cried ENOUGH already!

Frankly, I think those sorts of imposed “collections” are a sign of utmost laziness by gift-givers. It can start out as an earnest attempt to gift family with something they like (but in a passing manner) and then it never stops until the person has to be direct and say “enough already!” It means the gift-giver isn’t thinking of the person they’re gifting. They’re going by habit instead of asking the person what they’d like, or what they currently enjoy.

For a while my mother collected various Moose stuffed animals (we had a dog named Moose that she dearly loved) but I don’t think I ever contributed to that collection: she knew what she liked, she exhibited it tastefully. More than that would have been overwhelming and again, LAZY. She has since given some of those moose stuffed animals to my kids, who honestly couldn’t care less about them. I’m probably going to hand them over to Goodwill this week. No one will miss them.

Again, contributing to a collection of items the person you’re giving to may not even like is pure laziness by the gift-giver. Buy or do something else.

I try very hard to not add to people’s clutter. This year at Christmas I am making gifts. The ladies in my family will be receiving embroidered totes for shopping and some lovely silk scarves from some yardage I found on sale. The men are getting personalized treats/ sauces/ or chutneys and mittens. The children are getting animals made from old sweaters. The gifts are personal and useful.

I had a personal experience with several years of bunny gifts – jewelry, figurines, donations to bunny rescue groups, etc. – until I finally convinced people that I’m not that into bunnies.

Perhaps people searching for the ‘perfect’ gift grab onto an idea that seems to fit the person but not be overly expensive.

One idea this makes me think of is taking photos of each one and then using one of the online places to create a hard-cover book with the photos and info about them. The book I can keep on a shelf or store in my memory box (a rubbermaid tote) and will take up far less space. The ones I truly love can be scattered and have places of honor rather than just being bunched with the rest.

If someone gives you something, it is yours and you are free to do whatever with it. Including getting rid of it.

Other visits have featured shot-glass collections, state spoon collections, and dozens of whisky decanters in various shapes.

One of the more obnoxious items was a cow cookie jar that moos when you open the lid. I once gave her a very tasteful Christmas ornament featuring a cow playing the violin in a sitting, udderly exposed position. Finally, she cried No Mas!

However, one day not long before Christmas, I spied a t-shirt out on the sidewalk in front of a clothing store. Picture of a cow’s head, with international circle and slash meaning NO juxtaposed over it, and the tag line Cowdependent No More. (This was a few years ago, when “codependent” was a big buzz word.)

As someone who recently gave up a vintage furnishings shop, I’m trying mightily to declutter my life. Part of my therapy is a post a day about an item I own on absolutegalore.com. The next step will be to sell, give away, or otherwise dispose of 4 out of every 5 items I write about!